Share this:

Here’s an early look at Chronicle staff writer Ron Kroichick’s feature on Anquan Boldin, set to appear in Saturday’s Sporting Green:

Long before he completed his sixth NFL season of 80-plus catches, pointing his new team toward another playoff berth, Anquan Boldin faced a fundamental football decision: Running back or wide receiver?

Boldin played quarterback in high school (and free safety on defense), but Florida State’s coaches wanted him to change positions. His toughness and strong hands made him a good fit in the backfield or lined up wide. Boldin, ever shrewd, didn’t take long to choose his path.

“Running backs get hit too much, so I went to receiver,” he said Friday. “But I consider myself a football player, not a receiver. Whatever I’m asked to do on the field, I’m willing to do it.”

Boldin finished the regular season with a flourish, making nine catches against Arizona. (AP photo)

The 49ers are grateful Boldin, 33, reinvented himself all those years ago. His offseason acquisition counts as one of the key moments – maybe the key moment – in San Francisco’s march to the postseason and Sunday’s wild-card game in Green Bay.

Boldin pumped life into an injury-depleted receiving corps, as 49ers coaches acknowledged in voting him winner of the team’s Bill Walsh Award as Most Valuable Player. He made 85 catches (his most since 2008) for 1,179 yards (his most since ’06) in compensating for the extended absences of Michael Crabtree and Mario Manningham.

Boldin offered tidy bookends to his inaugural season with the 49ers, catching 13 passes in a Week 1 victory over the Packers and nine in a Week 17 win over the Cardinals. He now has 857 career catches, fifth among active players and 20th on the all-time list.

“We definitely would not be in the playoffs without him,” guard Alex Boone said.

And now the playoffs bring a return engagement with Green Bay, the team Boldin torched Sept. 8. He wasn’t around for the postseason game last season in which Colin Kaepernick left cleat marks on the Packers, prompting them to focus on slowing the 49ers’ running game in the season opener.

Boldin responded with those 13 catches for 208 yards and a touchdown, showing how quickly he meshed with his new team. He spent seven seasons in Arizona and three in Baltimore, so it would have been understandable if it took some time to become acclimated in San Francisco.

Boone and other 49ers players good-naturedly chided Boldin about denying them a Super Bowl title, and he took it in stride. In some ways, that common experience – Boldin lost in his first Super Bowl appearance, with the Cardinals after the 2008 season – accelerated the transition.

“I came here and the team was hungry, so I felt like I fit right in,” he said. “This team was coming off a Super Bowl loss, and everyone wanted to get back to that game and make things right.

“I’ve been in that position, losing a Super Bowl, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Every time I get a chance to right that, I’m going to take advantage of it.”

To hear his teammates, Boldin sets the tone in the locker room. He quickly became a mentor to rookie wide receiver Quinton Patton and a great example to the team’s other receivers.

Tight end Garrett Celek described Boldin routinely making “insane” catches in practice – acrobatic, one-handed grabs in traffic. That translates to games, where Boldin’s body control and penchant for playing physically makes him Kaepernick’s favorite target.

To think, the Ravens relinquished him for a sixth-round draft choice. Score one for Jim Harbaugh over his big brother/Baltimore’s head coach.

“My brother John said, ‘You will love Anquan – the way he practices, the way he competes and the way he plays,’ ” Jim Harbaugh said this week. “He’s serious about winning and serious about being really good. He comes to work, goes home, comes back to work and kicks ass day after day. I love it.”